PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has said that all Muslims must oppose the ratification of the International Convention of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Icerd).

He said this is because the ratification of Icerd would place Islam at the "same level" as other religions and criticised Muslims who appeared to be supportive of the convention.

"Unfortunately there are Muslims who don't understand or pretend not to understand... they want to fight for equality by making Islam the same as other religions.

"We must oppose (Icerd) because it is compulsory for Muslims to say that Islam is correct. We can give rights to other religions but to say that other religions are the same as Islam is unacceptable.

"This is a line we cannot cross," he said during a ceramah at Kuala Terengganu last night, as reported by the New Straits Times today.

Icerd, he said, would actually be unfair to the country, as the bumiputera Muslims are lagging behind.

Using the example of parents with different number of children, he said one cannot give all parents the same things in an effort to be fair.

"The bumiputera Muslims are lagging behind. The (British) colonisers gave us poor learning facilities while the non-Muslims were placed in cities to control trade, industry, the ports and many more.

"To remove (our privileges) in our weak state in the name of equality is not right," he said.

The government's recent proposal to ratify Icerd became highly contentious as critics fear it will result in the removal of the Malays' special privileges.

PAS, along with Umno, have announced they will hold a joint protest against the ratification of Icerd in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 8.